Injury Setback Postpones Pitt Freshman Linebacker's Enrollment
An injury setback has postponed the enrollment of one of Pitt football’s incoming freshmen in the 2026 class.
Maury (Va.) linebacker prospect Isaiah Simmons will not enroll at Pitt this year, and will instead enroll in January of 2027 as he continues to recover from knee surgery, Pittsburgh Sports Now has confirmed. Chris Peak of Panther-Lair was the first to report.
Simmons signed with the Panthers during the early National Signing Day in December and was set to be a mid-year enrollee just a month later.
However, Simmons suffered a hyperextension injury during the Region 5B title game against King’s Fork a week before signing day. He was later diagnosed with a torn ACL and lateral meniscus. According to the Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters (Norfolk, Va.) Facebook page, Simmons underwent ACL reconstruction surgery in January.
Simmons, who stands at 6-foot, 190 pounds, recorded 109 tackles and 27 sacks during the 2025 season as he earned Virginia Class 5 Defensive Player of the Year Honors. Simmons helped Maury to three consecutive VHSL Class 5 state championships in 2023, 2024 and 2025.
“The third linebacker excited about Ike Simmons, from Maury High School down there in Virginia,” then-Pitt linebacker coach Ryan Manalac said on signing day. “Again, credit Coach Laster, finding him, cultivating that relationship, great area recruiter, but another great high school program.”
Manalac added: “Great family, meeting mom and dad, military background, raised him with discipline, great people. And so he comes from another great family. Got a chance to go down there and watch his team practice. Reminded me of the movie Miracle, watching Herb Brooks line them up and just keep running them. And you can see why their program is so successful, because those guys trained their tails off. And then watching Ike specifically, big, big muscle-bound young man, watching, running with the skilled athletes really stood out.
“So he’s running with a bunch of smaller, leaner guys and pushing those guys. It was impressive to see him running like that that day. But Ike’s a leader, he’s smart, he has great work ethic, ultimate competitor type guy, and he has the confidence at that level to be vocal, which is different, I think, than a lot of guys. He believes in himself, he believes what he’s doing enough to have the confidence to look his teammates in the eye and hold them accountable, which is huge. But he’s aggressive, has good instincts, plays with a high motor. And again, another good football player.”
Per the Rivals Industry Ranking, Simmons was a high three-star recruit and the No. 42 linebacker in the 2026 cycle. He held additional offers from Michigan, Duke, West Virginia, Virginia Tech, Syracuse and more.
Simmons was one of three linebackers that signed with Pitt in the 2026 class, joining Miami Northwestern (Fla.) prospect Desmond Johnson and Cass Technical (Mich.) recruit Marcus Jennings.
